German Chancellor Scholz warns Israel against offensive on Rafah

DPA
·2 min read
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks alongside Eva Quadbeck, editor-in-chief and head of the capital city editorial office of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), and Henry Lohmer (R), editor-in-chief of the Maerkische Allgemeine newspaper, at a talk round in the Orangery of the Biosphaere Potsdam. Carsten Koall/dpa
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks alongside Eva Quadbeck, editor-in-chief and head of the capital city editorial office of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), and Henry Lohmer (R), editor-in-chief of the Maerkische Allgemeine newspaper, at a talk round in the Orangery of the Biosphaere Potsdam. Carsten Koall/dpa
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned Israel against expanding its military operation in the Gaza Strip to include the southern city of Rafah.

"We consider an offensive on Rafah ... to be irresponsible," Scholz said on Saturday at a talk show organized by the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media group in Potsdam just outside Berlin.

"We warn against this, and we do not believe that there is any concept that will ultimately lead to this happening without incredible human losses in terms of innocent civilians," he said.

Scholz also emphasized that Israel had the right to defend itself and fight the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas.

Humanitarian aid must also be brought to Gaza and there must be a perspective for peaceful coexistence in which two states can exist side by side, the German chancellor added.

The Israeli army has called on the people in Rafah to leave further areas of the city, increasing concerns about an expansion of the military operation in the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip.

Israel's military action in the part of the sealed-off coastal strip bordering Egypt is highly controversial internationally. Until recently, more than 1 million people who had fled from other parts of the Gaza Strip were crowded together there seeking a refuge from the fighting.

The United States, Israel's most important ally, is warning the country against a large-scale offensive. US President Joe Biden recently even threatened to restrict the supply of weapons.

Scholz said that Germany does not have the weapons that the US is now considering not supplying.